Magic Merida makes his mark

THE Carling Cup’s primary purpose might sometimes appear to be to clutter up an already crowded fixture list, but for the time being Arsenal are relishing the inconvenience.

Arsene Wenger’s tyros last night secured their most eye-catching scalp of recent times in this much-maligned competition, dispatching Liverpool thanks to fine goals from Fran Merida and Nicklas Bendtner.

If the latter is a familiar name to most Emirates regulars, Merida’s is less so.

The 19-year-old has not regularly found favour with Wenger and he was almost sent on loan to Spanish side Levante in the summer.

But he made a name for himself here with a marvellous opening goal and then helped set up Bendter for the winner after Emiliano Insua had equalised. A new star may just have been born.

“He is a quality player,’’ Wenger said. “He comes from a very good school, by which I mean the Spanish school. But our school is also in line with the way he has been educated.

“He can certainly break through and I want him to stay here. I kept him as I thought he had the quality to break through. He shows perfectly the way we play football.’’

Merida’s mercurial display ensured more disappointment for Liverpool, with this result deflating the bubble of optimism generated by the weekend win over Manchester United.

Rafael Benitez’s consolations were a first appearance for the fit-again Alberto Aquilani, whose 13-minute cameo represented a belated debut following his €20 million move from Roma, and the fact that the Carling Cup never featured high on his list of priorities, although whether a manager who has gone trophyless since 2006 can afford such luxuries is another matter.

Arsenal will enjoy their win but while meetings between these two behemoths are usually red-letter occasions on the footballing calendar, this one was barely a sickly pink, with the two managers making a combined total of 20 changes from their previous Premier League line-ups.

That said, there were still aspects of interest, for the connoisseur at least.

Most pointedly, there was a reminder that Benitez’s controversial overhaul of Anfield’s youth system two years ago to allign it with Arsenal’s globe-trotting methodology has yet to bear rich fruit.

Wenger, meanwhile, was heartened by the sight of a sprightly display from Samir Nasri, who has become something of a forgotten man having missed the last three months with a broken leg.

This should catapult him back into contention. Nasri was never mesmeric here and is clearly still feeling his way back to fitness, but he showed enough glimpses of his old finesse to suggest a first team return is imminent, sending one free-kick curling wide and sprinkling a tidy array of passes around the Emirates turf.

Ultimately, however, he was upstaged by Merida, who took this tie by the scruff of its neck in the 20th minute with a sublime goal.

There appeared little danger when a sloppy error from Andriy Voronin allowed Craig Eastmond to gobble up possession and release Merida 25 yards from goal. The angle was uninviting, but the 19-year-old planted the full force of his left boot behind his shot, which crashed into the net off the right-hand post.

Wenger broke into applause on the sidelines, but his side did not have the monopoly on wonder goals. Seven minutes later, David Ngog beat Kerrea Gilbert in the air and nodded down to Insua, who propelled a dipping volley over the flat-footed Lukasz Fabianski.

Arsenal might have wilted at that disappointment but they are a tough bunch. They rallied towards the end of the first half, with Bendtner shooting straight at Diego Cavalieri, and then forged ahead soon after the re-start, the Dane blasting high into the net after Aaron Ramsey had failed to control in the area. It was a fine finish but much of the credit lay with Merida, whose ball into Ramsey from the left was inch-perfect.

Liverpool perked up with the introduction of Aquilani and the Italian almost enjoyed a dream debut when his overhead kick appeared to strike Philippe Senderos on the hand. The referee Alan Wiley refused to award a penalty, leaving Benitez, who confirmed that Steven Gerrard is unlikely to feature at Fulham on Saturday due to injury, to reflect on what might have been.

“It would have been the perfect start for Aquilani – always when you start doing things well, the fans support you more,’’ he said.

“He needs to improve the fitness but he is closer every day. For us, he could be an important player because we need quality and he is that kind of player.’’

Aquilani’s bright future will have to wait; Arsenal’s, it appears, is already upon us.

Subs for Arsenal: Randall for Eastmond, 75, Bendtner 6 Watt for Bendtner, 75, Coquelin for Merida, 87.

Subs for Liverpool: Benayoun for Ngog 74, Aquilani for Plessis, 77, Eccleston for Degen 88.